The Case of the Blocked Bassett

We have two dogs, one of which is the sweetest Labrador Retriever in the history of dogs, a 12 year old gentle and loving animal. We also have a 2 year old Bassett Hound, Miss Molly, which is the strangest dog we've ever owned.

We've learned a lot about this breed of dog in the 2 years we've had Molly. For example, Bassett's don't obey commands like normal dogs, they sometimes acquiesce. The dog does make us laugh all the time, though, especially when she runs, if it can be called running. Typically, Molly's attempts to move rapidly result in a lurching, unbalanced series of motions, involving tripping over ears, and the front of the dog going in a different direction than the distant rear of the dog. As a British woman observed just yesterday "My, that dog goes on for a long, long way."

Anyway, we noticed that Miss Molly was even more slow moving and languid than normal yesterday, and she had no desire to eat. Eating is the one thing that seems to awaken this dog, and if Wifey comes down to the kitchen in the morning and doesn't immediately put out food, Molly begins a hilarious baying, right out of an old movie about fox hunting. It's really something to hear.

Wifey took Molly to the vet, the vet did an X ray, and there was the problem clear to see: a golf ball sized rock was lodged in the dog's intestine, just past her stomach. The vet sent us home with instructions to bring the dog back this morning for a rock-ectomy, which is pretty major surgery. Wifey was most concerned, but at the same time started seriously considered giving Molly to her friend Elizabeth in Orlando, an otherwise normal woman who, for some strange reason, loves Bassett Hounds.

Well, wifey arrived at the office at 830 this morning, they did a pre op X ray, and, VIOLA! --the rock had passed, just like the biblical adage that "This, too, shall pass..."

Wifey was elated, the Bassett was hungry, and life goes on. Wifey's right, though. The dog cries out to be memorialized in a childrens' book about this most humorous animal. Now that there has been some pathos, maybe I'll do it!